Egypt's opposition to shun Morsi talks

Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian president, is expected to press ahead with talks on ways to end Egypt's worst crisis since he took office even though the country's main opposition leaders have vowed to boycott negotiations.

The capital Cairo and other cities have been rocked by violent protests since November 22, when Morsi issued a decree awarding himself sweeping powers that put him above the law.

Morsi's planned dialogue meeting was expected to go ahead on Saturday in the absence of most opposition factions.

"Everything will be on the table," a presidential source said.

The National Salvation Front, the main opposition coalition, said it would not join the dialogue.The Front's co-ordinator, Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate, dismissed the offer as "arm-twisting and imposition of a fait accompli". 

Murad Ali, spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, said opposition reactions were disappointing: "What exit to this crisis do they have other than dialogue?" he asked.

Morsi could be joined by some senior judiciary figures and politicians such as Ayman Nour, one of the candidates in ousted President Hosni Mubarak's only multi-candidate presidential race, in 2005, in which he was defeated.

The opposition has demanded that Morsi rescind the decree and delay the vote set for December 15 on a constitution drafted by a Muslim Brotherhood-led assembly which they say fails to meet the goals of all Egyptians.

Mahmoud Mekki, Egypt's vice president, issued a statement saying the president was prepared to postpone the referendum if that could be done without legal challenge.

But the concession fails to meet the full demands of the opposition, who also want Morsi to discard the decree awarding himself extra powers.

ElBaradei said that if Morsi were to scrap the decree with which he awarded himself wide powers and postpone the referendum "he will unite the national forces".

The state news agency reported that the election committee had postponed the start of voting for Egyptians abroad until Wednesday, instead of Saturday as planned. It did not say whether this would affect the timing of voting within Egypt.

Ahmed Said, leader of the liberal Free Egyptians Party, told the Reuters news agency that delaying expatriate voting was intended to seem like a concession but would not change the opposition's stance.

On Friday, large crowds of protesters surged around the presidential palace, breaking through barbed wire barricades and climbing on tanks guarding the seat of Egypt's first freely-elected president, who took office in June.

As the night wore on, tens of thousands of opposition supporters were still at the palace, waving flags and urging Morsi to "leave, leave".

Republican Guard units had sealed off the presidential palace with tanks and barbed wire on Thursday after violence between supporters and opponents of Morsi killed seven people and wounded at least 350 others.

Funerals were held on Friday at Cairo's al-Azhar mosque for the six Morsi supporters who were among the dead.

"With our blood and souls, we sacrifice to Islam," they chanted.